Photo taken on April 16, 2021 shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in Moscow. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday declared an Estonian diplomat "persona non grata" as the two countries are engaged in a diplomatic row.
Estonian Ambassador to Russia Margus Laidre was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and was informed that a staffer of the Estonian Embassy in Moscow must leave the country within a week, the ministry said in a statement.
The decision was made in response to the expulsion of a Russian diplomat from Estonia on July 15.
"We ask our Estonian colleagues to stop, and not to further complicate the situation that has already aggravated," it said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry declared Estonian Consul in St. Petersburg Mart Latte "persona non grata" on July 7 after he was "caught red-handed while receiving classified documents from a Russian citizen." This led to the July 15 expulsion of the Russian diplomat.
